Trace-fastener.



No. 659,209. Patenteq Oct. 9, I900.

H. P. CHILDRESS TRACE FASTENEB.

(Application filed July 12, 1900.)

(No Model.)

NITED STATES HENDERSON P. OHILDRESS,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

TRAC E-FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 659,209, dated October 9, 1900.

Application filed July 12, 1900.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENDERSON P. CHIL- DRESS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Memphis, in the county of Shelby and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and usefulTrace-Fastener, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a novel trace-fastener for whiffietrees, the end in view being to provide a fastener which may be quickly and conveniently applied to a whiftletree without special adaptation of the latter and without the employment of nails, screws, or other additional fastening devices.

To this end the invention consists in constructing the fastener proper from a short strand of spring metal as, for instance, wire-and so formed that one of its ends will constitute the yielding retainer for the trace, while its other end will constitute a secure fastening for retaining the device upon the end of the whiffletree.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of a whiftletree with my trace-fastener attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal section through one end of the subject-matter of Fig. 1 and on a somewhat enlarged scale, and Fig. 3 is a detail View of the trace-fastener detached.

Referring to the numerals of reference employed to designate corresponding parts and structural peculiarities in the several views, 1 indicates a whifiletree slightly tapering to wards its ends, as usual, and provided at its extremities with two of my trace-fasteners. Adjacent to each extremity the whiffietree 1 is pierced by an opening 2, and at a short distance from said opening by a somewhat larger keeper-socket 3, the opening 2 being located intermediate of the keeper-socket 3 and the extremity of the whiffletree.

Intermediate of the openings 2 and 3 the upper surface of the whiffletree is formed with a recess 4, located at one end of a channel 5, the other end of which terminates at the upper end of the opening 2. The wire from which the fastening is formed is bent to form an angular keeper 6, extending from the extremity of the whiffletree at an acute angle to the upper face thereof, the end of said keeper being bent into alinement with the socket 3 for reception therein, the resiliency Serial No. 23,398. (No model.)

of the wire being sufficient to normally retain the keeper end (indicated by the numeral 7) only a sufficient distance within the socket 3 to prevent the accidental detachment of the trace. At the end of the keeper opposite the end 7 the Wire is bent to conform to the extremity of the whiffletree and to the under side thereof from the extremity to the lower end of the opening 2, where it is bent at right angles, as indicated at 8, and is passed through the openings from the under side of the whiffletree to the channel 5 in the upper face of the'latter. The wire is now bent at right angles, as indicated at 9, toward the opposite end of the whiffletree and is disposed within the channel 5 below the plane of the upper face of said whiffletree and with its extremity 10 bent into parallel relation with the keeper end 7 and passed into the recess 4.

It will thus be seen that the trace-fastener comprehends a strand of wire looped around the extremity of the whiffletree and having both ends extended therein from above to constitute a spring-keeper for the trace, having a retaining end passed through the whiffletree from the under side and bent back in the opposite direction for the purpose of securing the device to the whiffletree without the employment of separate fasteners.

Upon examination of the drawings it will be seen that when the trace is slipped over the end of the whiffletree the keeper 6 will yield to permit the trace to pass beyond the keeper end 7, after which the keeper will spring back to its normal position to prevent the accidental displacement of the trace.

From the foregoing it will be observed that I have invented a simple and ingenious tracefastener constructed from a single piece of wire and designed to be quickly attached to a whiffletree without the special adaptation of the latter and without the employment of separate retaining devices; but while the present embodiment of the invention appears at this time to be preferable I wish to reserve to myself the right to effect such minor variations in the construction thereof as may be embraced within the scope of the protection prayed.

What I claim is- 1. The combination with a whiffletree provided with a keeper-socket adjacent to one end, of a trace-fastener com posed of a single piece of metal bent around the end of the whiffletree and having an angular extremity forming a keeper end designed for reception in the keeper-socket and having its opposite end passed through the \vhiflietree and bent back or deflected to engage with the latter.

2. The combination with a whiffletree provided with a keeper-socket, an opening intermediate of the socket and the end of the whiflietree, a recess intermediate of the opening and socket, and a channel in the face of the \vhifiierree and extending from the opening to the recess, of a trace-fastener hent around the end of lhe Whifiietree and provided 

